NoNAIS.org is an organization of farmers and concerned citizens who are fighting NAIS, the National Animal Identification System. I recently ran across their blog/website and found a very active advocacy outreach effort.

So, what is this NAIS they are fighting? NAIS is described on a USDA website this way:

"As part of its ongoing efforts to safeguard U.S. animal health, USDA initiated the implementation of the National Animal Identification System (NAIS) in 2004. NAIS is a cooperative State-Federal-industry partnership to standardize and expand animal identification programs and practices to all livestock species and poultry. NAIS is being developed through the integration of three components-premises identification, animal identification, and animal tracking. The long-term goal of the NAIS is to provide animal health officials with the capability to identify all livestock and premises that have had direct contact with a disease of concern within 48 hours after discovery."

RFID tagging of livestock is a big part of NAIS.

NAIS is currently a voluntary program, although a draft strategic plan about NAIS references making it mandatory in 2008 and beyond. However, the same USDA website says "no actions have been initiated by USDA to develop regulations to require participation in NAIS."

NoNAIS.org, one of several groups fighting NAIS, says that NAIS is being pushed on America's farms, and that farmers and others are against it. The organization has a blog (doesn't every grassroots protest or advocacy organization these days have a blog?) noting the following on it:

"The common people are virtually universally against NAIS once they know about it. The problem is most people don't know about NAIS because the USDA has been slipping it under the door without legislative review. Our government officials support NAIS. NAIS will hurt small farmers, homesteaders and pet owners as well as consumers. NAIS is great for big agri-businesses and the tag identification companies. Something's fishy ... ."

Their website is quite comprehensive, listing legislators for and against NAIS, as well as websites and resources you can read on all angles of the issue.

All I have to say is that the USDA had better take groups like this seriously, and mount an outreach program to listen to these voices. Farmers are an independent lot, and don't take easily to having programs pushed down their throats. And these days, they have broadband connections and blogs down on the farm, and it is far easier to mount a protest/advocacy effort than in the past when it was not as easy to communicate with other like-minded souls.

"Tags? We don't need no stinking tags." (Phrase and the title of this post are a take-off of some famous lines in the movie, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, wherein the bad guys who were masquerading as Mexican Federales police, when challenged to show their badges, responded, "Badges, to god-damned hell with badges! We have no badges. In fact, we don't need badges. I don't have to show you any stinking badges....")